Asian Undercover! or, How I became an Unwilling Sleuth

Hello dear Readers! I have a confession to make: I eavesdrop. I am a flaming, flagrant eavesdropper. Besides it being a questionable habit, it is quite fascinating what people say in public if they think no one can understand them.

I do not go around creepily sneaking up to people in public to hear what they are saying, no. (I would not admit to this even if I did. Ehem. Okay, there were these girls, one time last week, but anthropologically speaking, they were unbelievably stupid.)

I merely look Chinese, according to some. I am not, I am Korean racially, and mostly Kiwi ethnically. It is an easy mistake to make, and I personally do not have the talent for differentiating between different kinds of Asians on sight. Unfortunately for some, this means that people do not always expect me to understand (albeit rudimentary) Korean.

So sometimes, quite unexpectedly, people say things that they do not intend for me to understand. It is sometimes people speaking in English, who maybe thought that I could not. But by far more often, it is other Korean people, thinking that I am not.

One memorable time, I was in a crowd with one of my best friends, who is South African New Zealander. There was some uncomfortable shuffling, and by complete accident, my friend bumped into someone. That person did not say anything in English, but under her breath, called my friend ugly. She is most definitely not, and a wonderful person besides. I caught it, and, er, suffice to say, I won.

Other times, people are speaking in Korean for privacy. I find this quite tricky to manage. What is one to do? By the time I realise that I am hearing something that I should not, it is maybe too late to move away abruptly without these people realising, much to their dismay, that I understood. And for frankly racist reasons, this also embarrasses some people when they find out they have made a mistake. But I also know that I do not have the right to sit there and listen gleefully with morbid curiosity. It is tempting sometimes, and honestly, if you want things to remain private, why not find an actual private place to talk?

Does this happen to anyone else? Tell me, the gossip monger in me wants to know. The juicier and gorier the better.

Sometimes a very bad girl indeed,
KK.